Dockhands absentmindedly carry heaps of metal and the carcasses of beasts that look like the result of crabs and horses being able to crossbreed.
People gather to assist in the moving of loot that a salvager by the name Raclette Cainhurst had acquired. Loot which consists of the carcasses of varying ruin beasts, and myriads of ancient technology that the people of the modern day use to further modern technological advancements.
"This is from the 3rd Charlie-type structure by the West Musslebrot Cloud Sea, yes?
"Yes."
Going through the motions, just doing the proper procedure for ruin salvaging work, Raclette leans by an electric pole as he answers the routine questions he hears every day.
The dockhands are of a contact he knows of, to regularly collect his spoils at the end of the day to either put them onto the market or send them off to specific customers who'd have commissioned for specific materials.
The information to be collected post expedition is to better help the other salvagers know which ruins have been looted, or to determine the value of products in accordance to the difficulty of their acquisition.
As the questioning happens, he straightens up a bit upon seeing a familiar face approaching. It's a merchant he knows of, part of this larger merchant guild that he gets his supplies from and occasionally trades some loot with.
"Ah, Sir Cainhurst, good day!"
Raclette nods, reciprocating their greeting– as he finds a letter on the man's hand. Seeing that Raclette has noticed the letter, the merchant quickly hands it to him.
"It's an invitation to a larger operation where many salvagers like you are to be invited."
"A larger operation?"
He promptly grabs a knife from his belt to open the letter through its wax seal. The letter doesn't read for too long, so he glazes over it quickly.
"Hmmm… alright, it's an interesting proposal."
"Great, our lord would be delighted to have you participate."
"Well, if my schedule doesn't conflict, which it seems it won't… I'll attend the meeting to discuss it."
"Alright then, best of luck, and once again… Good day sir."
The merchant bows and turns on his heel as they have concluded their business.
Written in the letter, explains the operation of which consists of accomplished salvagers to explore a lot of the large amount of unexplored ruins, chart maps of them, in exchange for the salvagers to take a sizable cut of the profits, and having access to high level equipment that the average would have no access to.
It is explained in the letter that this operation aims to expand the salvaging industry, as a lot of ruins have recently been running low on loot and salvagers have been having a hard time getting good amounts if they have to argue with another group or salvager.
Which for what it's worth, are concerns he understands.
* * *
The seminar was rather boring.
What was talked about mostly ended up being mere elaboration of the facts already explained in the letter.
For what was new, It's more about the sponsors of the operation, the plans they have after the operation, and where they expect to assign certain people.
All of this was stuff Raclette barely cared about, he just wanted to get the fancy equipment they were gonna lend him, and the instructions for the job, then get out.
Though for what it's worth though…
"Ehehe… ehehe…"
The fancy equipment was something he quite enjoyed fidgeting with. There was a radar amongst them, of which would assist in the cartography efforts.
He repeatedly presses the button, letting the layout of his ship repeatedly show on its 2 tone screen.
The screen was one of beads merely changing colors, to either black or white. It only shows a small distance, but this would help in identifying dead ends without going into them… preventing time from being wasted.
If all he got for that seminar was this, he thought it would've been worth it. Though, with all that messing around, he had to eventually get to work.
Promptly, he equips his salvaging getup.
FWOOM…
A bubble of air surrounds him, it is from a piece of technology sold in the capital, standard issue for most salvagers of the current era.
One that allows him to swim through water while not getting wet, and with the ability to breathe.
He puts his foot on the edge of his boat, as he plunges deep into the deep dark sea.
The deeper he descends, the less the light passes through as his entire body is engulfed in darkness… but this doesn't scare him.
Within the bubble equipped on him, light comes off of it, allowing him to see his surroundings as he descends… and finally, the visage of the ruin he's to explore comes to his sights.
The entry to the ruins is always the same, it can be entered from below, one where water cannot come flooding from because of how it's designed.
From the inside, the walls look like glass, being able to see the vast darkness of the ocean as you walk around. While from the outside, the walls of the ruins are of a reflective and mirror-like surface.
So being inside of one of these ruins is akin to traveling through an aquarium exhibit but there are no lights.
Upon his entry, and the bubble disabled, Raclette begins looking around. Making markings of his path, hugging the left wall, and beginning to chart the map.
As he does so… something catches his eye.
"Hmm?"
It was a very large linear scratch on the floor, like what would look like if a child drew a line on the sand.
…but the floor is not soft, or made with sand, it's with a very solid metal.
He recognises immediately what this could mean.
"Shit… did they get the danger level wrong?"
There is a specific ruin beast, it's got 3 individual legs, each leg is dragged across the floor when it walks, making such marks even through a hard floor.
Such ruins beasts are called "Vulmiks".
It's a 3 legged humanoid ruin beast with 3 legs, no hair, and mouths where its eyes would be. They are incredibly dangerous… So much so that they are only found in ruins of danger level 7.
The danger level told to him about this ruin was 3.
Without hesitation, he turns around, deciding to leave as this was not something he prepared for.
…but as he turned around…
He made eye contact.